JOHANNESBURG - International retailer Steinhoff said on Thursday it had continued to grow overall revenue despite the ongoing challenges facing the group, with net sales from continuing operations in the nine-month period to June 30 increasing by four percent to €10.113 billion.
Steinhoff has been taking steps to recover from an accounting scandal revealed in December 2017 which triggered a run on its shares and forced former chief executive Markus Jooste out.
In a trading update on Thursday, the company said it had made significant headway in addressing past deficiencies to restore trust in the group and build a recovery in value for stakeholders.
"While many more tough miles lie ahead of us, we have maintained our momentum, achieving a number of critical objectives on our restructuring journey," it said.
"We continued our essential effort to stabilise the group, progressing the complex and technical work necessary to complete our financial restructuring, while also helping to enhance the long-term stability and growth prospects of our operating companies."
It said as an investment holding company with a broad range of retail business investments, its operating companies gave it well-diversified exposure to a number of strong local brands, with some individual businesses such as Pepkor Africa and Pepkor Europe continuing to perform robustly.
Others remained in a turnaround phase but continued to report more encouraging recent trends.
Steinhoff said it would focus on rectifying, restructuring and rebuilding its operations, stabilising the group and reducing debt levels.